System and Method for Tracking Moving Objects

ABSTRACT

Processing and analysis of video data received from surveillance cameras, and more specifically detecting moving objects in the video and further tracking using a rotating video camera. A system for tracking moving objects comprises video cameras, a memory, a graphical user interface (GUI), and a data processing device. The GUI comprises a selection unit, a calibration unit, an operation mode selection unit, and a display unit. A method for tracking moving objects implemented by the computer system comprises the steps at which: the system is set up; the moving object is tracked by a video camera; video data from the video cameras are displayed simultaneously by the GUI display unit in different panes on the video camera layout screen in accordance with the selected system operation mode.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Russian Patent Application No. RU2019112139, filed Apr. 22, 2019, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention pertains to the field of processing and analysis of videodata received from surveillance cameras, and more specifically totechnologies aimed at detecting moving objects in the video and theirfurther tracking with the help of a rotating video camera.

BACKGROUND

Video surveillance systems are used to protect premises or territories.Typically, these systems use video multiple video cameras to monitor andtrack objects within a protected area. These video surveillance systemsare based on image processing and image recognition algorithms thatallow video analysis without direct human involvement.

Depending on specific purposes, video surveillance systems can performmany functions, such as: object detection, monitoring the object'smovement, tracking moving objects, object identification, search forobjects of interest, etc. These systems are quite straightforward andconvenient.

In the process of territory monitoring, the operator often needs to zoomin the image in order to examine it in more detail, for example, asuspicious person and what he holds in his hands, or a registrationnumber of the vehicle of interest. This can be particularly timeconsuming when the moving object is zoomed in, as it is constantlymoving. In addition, while tracking the object of interest on severalvideo surveillance cameras, the operator focuses all his attention onone object. In this case, there is a high probability of missing someviolation (for example, illegal entry) in other places of the protectedarea.

Thus, the main disadvantages of prior art include lack of the ability tosimultaneously display the full picture of the monitored territory andthe detailed image of moving objects within it, as well as impossibilityof tracking several moving objects using the received video data.

From the field of the invention, we know the solution disclosed in theInternational Patent Application Publication WO 2012/005387 A1 publishedJan. 12, 2012, which describes the system and method for monitoring themoving object with the use of multiple cameras and the algorithm fortracking the object. The process and system for this invention contain atracking system that manages multiple cameras, whereby multiple camerastrack the subject, and a mobile communication system that delivers thetraceable result of the tracking system to the user's mobile terminal.According to this invention, only the Y-signal from the image comingfrom the camera is detected and stored. Presence or absence of a movingobject is verified by obtaining a difference image using the differencesbetween the pixels of the current image and those of the previous image.

This technology provides a detailed algorithm for detecting the movingobject, determining its motion direction, and further tracking of themoving object. Thus, this solution refers to detection of a singlemoving object, not all objects moving in the field of view of multiplesurveillance cameras linked to a single rotating camera.

Technically, the closest solution is disclosed in the US PatentApplication Publication 2009/0167867 A1 published Jul. 2, 2009, whichdescribes a camera control system capable of positioning and trackingobjects in space and comprising a location device for generation andtransmission of a position signal according to its position in space; areceiver to receive the position signal transmitted by the locationdevice; a control unit linked to the receiver to generate the controlcommand according to the position signal received by the receiver; and acamera linked to the control unit, whereby the control command is usedfor changing the camera focus.

The main difference between the solutions known in the field ofinvention and the present solution is in the lack of description of aspecific algorithm for setting up the video surveillance system tocompare data from surveillance cameras and a rotating camera, as well asthe lack of a specific interface of this video surveillance system whichfeatures specific units with functions for more convenient and efficientoperation of the system. In addition, the known solutions do not implysimultaneous display of video data from the specified surveillancecameras and the linked rotating camera.

BRIEF SUMMARY

This technical solution is aimed to eliminate the disadvantages of theprevious methods and to improve the existing solutions.

The technical result of the present group of inventions is detection andtracking by a rotating camera of objects moving in the frame of thesurveillance camera.

This technical result is achieved by a system for tracking movingobjects comprising: at least two video cameras, one of which is apan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) video camera (PTZ camera) and at least one othervideo camera is a surveillance video camera; a memory capable of storingvideo data from all video cameras in the system; a graphical userinterface (GUI) containing at least: a selection unit, a calibrationunit, an operation mode selection unit, and a display unit; and a dataprocessing device configured to execute the following steps:

setup of the system operation, which comprises providing the user withthe ability to perform the following actions: (1) selection of specificsurveillance cameras, from cameras available in the system, as therotating video camera by a selection unit GUI; (2) calibration of eachselected surveillance camera in relation to the rotating video camerausing the calibration unit GUI, whereby the user sets not less than sixlinks between the rotating camera and each surveillance camera duringthe calibration process; (3) selection of the system operation mode fromthe possible four operation modes using the operation mode selectionunit GUI;

tracking of at least one moving object by a rotating video camera,whereby motion of all moving objects is detected in the frame of atleast one surveillance video camera by the object tracker; and

simultaneous display of video data from at least one surveillance cameraand from the rotating camera in different panes on the video cameralayout screen in accordance with the selected mode of the systemoperation using the display unit GUI.

This technical result is also achieved by the method of tracking themoving objects implemented by a computer system, which includes at leastone data processing device, a memory, a graphical user interface (GUI),and at least two video cameras, wherein one of the cameras is a rotatingvideo camera and at least one other camera is a surveillance camera,wherein the method comprises the steps at which the following operationsare performed:

setup of the system operation, which comprises providing the user withthe ability to perform the following actions: (1) selection of specificsurveillance cameras, from cameras available in the system, as therotating video camera via selection unit GUI; (2) calibration of eachselected surveillance camera in relation to the rotating video camerausing the calibration unit GUI, whereby the user sets not less than sixlinks between the rotating camera and each surveillance camera duringthe calibration process; (3) selection of the system operation mode fromthe possible four operation modes using the operation mode selectionunit GUI;

tracking of at least one moving object by a rotating video camera,whereby motion of all moving objects is detected in the frame of atleast one surveillance video camera by the object tracker; and

simultaneous display of video data from at least one surveillance cameraand from the rotating camera in different panes on the video cameralayout screen in accordance with the selected mode of the systemoperation using the display unit GUI.

In one particular embodiment, the object tracker detects all movingobjects in the frame and determines their spatial coordinates.

In another particular embodiment, the system user performs the followingactions using the GUI calibration unit during the calibration, whensetting links between the rotating camera and each surveillance videocamera: (a) selects one surveillance video camera from the list ofpreviously selected video cameras in the system; (b) focuses therotating video camera on any point in the view of the selectedsurveillance video camera; (c) sets the point on the frame of theselected surveillance camera that is currently facing the rotatingcamera; (d) repeats steps (b) and (c) at least six times to set at leastsix links; (e) repeats steps (a)-(d) for each next surveillance videocamera of the system.

In another particular embodiment, the system is additionally configuredto allow the system user to delete the points that were set by mistakeusing the calibration unit GUI.

In another particular embodiment, all points are set on the same spatialplane.

In another particular embodiment, one of the operation modes is themanual mode in which tracking by the rotating camera of at least onemoving object in the frame of one of the surveillance cameras beginsafter the user of the system selects the tracked object in the frame ofone of the surveillance cameras.

In another particular embodiment, one of the operation modes is theautomatic mode in which tracking by the rotating camera of the movingobjects is carried out automatically with a preset frequency ofswitching between all detected moving objects.

In another particular embodiment, one of the operating modes is the userpriority mode in which the automatic mode is used by default, but theuser can select a tracking object at any time and then activate themanual mode, wherein the automatic mode is activated again when the userdeselects the tracked object or when the tracked object disappears fromthe surveillance area of the rotating camera.

In another particular embodiment, one of the operation modes is themanual PTZ camera control mode in which the automatic mode is used bydefault, but the user can take control of the rotating camera at anytime.

In another particular embodiment, the moving object is a person or avehicle.

In another particular embodiment, the tracking of the moving object iscarried out using a mathematical transformation of the object'scoordinates in the frame of the surveillance camera into the values ofpan (p), tilt (t), and zoom (z) of the rotating camera usingapproximating smooth functions.

In another particular embodiment, the data processor is configured toautomatically check for presence of a gap in at least one of thecoordinates within the frame to allow the use of approximating smoothfunctions, wherein the check comprises the following steps: (a)searching for a specific location in the frame where the gap occurs; (b)restoration of the extreme value (max, min) of one of the p, t, z valuesthrough which the cyclic transition occurs at the gap location; (c)extension of the coordinates of at least one of the p, t, z valueslocated on the other side of the gap to ensure continuity.

In another particular embodiment, when a gap is detected for one of thep, t, z, coordinates, it is converted back to the coordinates of theframe of the surveillance camera.

This technical result is also achieved using a computer-readable datacarrier which contains instructions executed by the computer's processorfor implementation of methods for tracking moving objects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a system for tracking moving objects.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for tracking movingobjects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Description of the approximate embodiments is presented below. However,the inventions are not limited only to these embodiments. It will beobvious to persons who are experienced in this field that otherembodiments may fall within the scope of the present group ofinventions.

The invention in its various implementation options can be implementedin the form of computer systems and methods for tracking moving objects,as well as in the form of a computer-readable data carrier.

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a computer system fortracking moving objects. This system comprises: at least two videocameras, wherein one of them is a rotating video camera 10 and whereinat least one other video camera is a surveillance video camera 20, . . ., 2 n; a memory 30; a data processing device 40; and a graphical userinterface 50 which comprises at least the following: a selection unit60, a calibration unit 70, a mode selection unit 80, and a display unit90.

In the context of this application, computer systems are any systemsbased on hardware and software, such as: personal computers,smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.

Memory devices may include, but are not limited to, hard disk drives(HDDs), flash memory, ROMs (read-only memory), solid state drives(SSDs), etc. In order to further understand the nature of the solutions,it is necessary to clarify that the system memory stores an archive ofvideo data coming from all video cameras included in the securitysystem.

The data processing device may be a processor, microprocessor, computer,PLC (programmable logic controller), or integrated circuit configured toexecute certain commands (instructions, programs) for data processing.The processor can be multi-core, for parallel data processing.

The graphical user interface (GUI) is a system of tools for userinteraction with the computing device based on displaying all systemobjects and functions available to the user in the form of graphicalscreen components (windows, icons, menus, buttons, lists, etc.). Thus,the user has random access via data input/output devices to all visiblescreen objects—interface units—which are displayed on thedisplay/screen.

The data input/output device can be, but is not limited to, mouse,keyboard, touchpad, stylus, joystick, trackpad, etc.

It should be noted that this system may include any other devices knownin the field of invention, such as input/output devices, graphics cards(including graphics processing units (GPUs)), various sensors, etc.

The following is an example of how the above system works to track themoving objects.

Let's consider a video surveillance system of a mall as an example.There are video surveillance cameras over the entire perimeter of eachfloor of the mall. The video cameras are located in such a way thattheir fields of view are slightly intersected/overlapped. This isnecessary to ensure there are no blind areas of the video surveillancesystem and, if necessary, to create (restore) a full picture of theevent based on the video data. Thus, each surveillance video camera isplaced so as to face the plane in which the objects (floor, ground)move.

The object tracker is used in the present video surveillance system todetect moving objects on the video data from any video surveillancecameras. The object tracker is a software algorithm for determining thelocation of the moving objects in the video data. By using the tracker,it is possible to detect all moving objects in the frame and determinetheir specific spatial coordinates. In the context of this application,the movement of objects such as a person or a vehicle (car, bicycle,etc.) can be determined. These objects are usually of interest whenanalyzing the video data from surveillance cameras. It should be notedthat all video surveillance cameras available in the system can use theobject tracker.

As mentioned above, in addition to the video surveillance cameras, thepresent system for tracking the moving object comprises a rotating videocamera with several surveillance cameras in its field of view. Correctinteraction of all components included in the system and efficientoperation of the system as a whole require performing a number of stepsto configure the system before starting the operation. For this purpose,the system data processing device is configured to provide the systemuser with the ability to perform various configurations using thegraphic user interface (GUI).

The first step in the setup process is (1) selection of specific videosurveillance cameras from the cameras available in the system for arotating camera. This step is performed by the system user using theselection unit GUI. The selection is done using a data input device,such as a computer mouse, for example. The user selects the surveillancecameras that fall within the field of view of the rotating camera andlinks them to this camera. The selection unit interface contains aselection box for a specific camera and an “add” button for adding aspecific camera. Any number of surveillance cameras can be linked to therotating camera. For example, let's assume that the user has selected 2surveillance cameras out of 50 cameras located throughout the mall.

The second setup step is to calibrate each selected surveillance camerain relation to the rotating camera using the calibration unit GUI.During the calibration process, the user should specify at least sixlinks between the rotating video camera and each surveillance videocamera. The more links are specified, the more accurate the control ofthe rotating camera. Let's consider the calibration process in moredetail.

At first, the system user selects one surveillance camera from the listof the system cameras selected at the first step. Then, the user focusesthe rotating camera on a certain point in the field of view of theselected surveillance camera and specifies a point in the frame of theselected surveillance camera which is currently being watched by thefocused rotating camera (for example, with the help of a computermouse). To focus the rotating system on a certain point in the frame,the user changes the rotating camera lens orientation in the previewwindow of the calibration unit. This action is performed by remotecontrol of the position. Then the user repeats the steps of focusing andpointing at least six times to set at least six links. It is recommendedto set eight or more links. It should be noted that the points should bespecified on one spatial plane (floor, ground).

To link the next surveillance camera to the rotating camera, the abovesteps should be repeated. These steps should be repeated for each of theremaining system surveillance cameras. It should be noted that, in orderto improve the system operation, the observed objects should fitentirely in the frame of the rotating camera.

Once the calibration is done, the user can perform the recommendedcalibration check. To do this, the calibration unit GUI is equipped witha button, after pressing on which the user can click on different pointsin the surveillance camera frame. Thus, if the rotating camera iscorrectly positioned, it means that the calibration has been performedcorrectly, and if not, it is necessary to perform the calibration stepanew to improve the system operation accuracy. In addition, thecalibration unit GUI is equipped with tools to delete the points thatwere set by mistake. That is, it is not necessary to perform allcalibration steps anew; the user can delete only those points that wereset by mistake and replace them with the correct ones.

The final system setup step is selection of the system operation mode.Selection/control of the system is carried out by the system user usingthe operation mode selection unit GUI out of four possible operationmodes (the manual mode, automatic mode, user priority mode and manualrotating camera control mode (PTZ)) the features of which will bediscussed in detail below.

The manual mode is the most common and simple operation mode. In thismode, the rotating camera starts tracking a moving object in the frameof one of the surveillance cameras only after the user selects thetracked object on the frame of one of the surveillance cameras (byclicking using the computer mouse).

In the automatic mode, the rotating camera starts tracking the movingobjects automatically. In this mode, the rotating camera focuses on eachdetected moving object at a time with a preset switching frequencybetween all detected moving objects. The switching frequency is set bythe user in seconds using the GUI. This ensures consistent tracking ofall moving objects in each of the available surveillance cameras (linkedto the rotating camera).

The following two modes are different combinations of the standard modesdescribed above. For example, in the user priority mode, if the user hasnot selected the tracking object in the manual mode, the automatic modeis used by default. However, in this mode, the user can select a trackedspecific object at any time, which will activate the manual mode. Thus,when the user deselects the tracked object or when the object disappearsfrom the surveillance area of the rotating camera, the automatic mode isactivated again.

The manual rotating camera control mode (PTZ), like the user prioritymode, is characterized by the fact that it uses the automatic mode bydefault. However, in this mode, the user can take over a specific remotecontrol of the rotating video camera at any time without setting themoving object of interest.

Any of the modes is selected by the system user depending on thesituation and the specific monitoring task. Once the appropriate systemoperation mode is selected, the operator clicks the Apply button in GUI.It should be noted that if the situation in the monitored area changes,the system user can always select any other system operation mode whichis more appropriate.

Having performed all the steps required for the system operation, theuser can start direct tracking of the moving objects. The dataprocessing device of the present system is configured to performtracking of at least one moving object by a rotating video camera underthe above-mentioned settings. The tracking provides that once a movingobject is detected in the field of view of one of the surveillancecameras, under the operation mode, the rotating video camera focuses onit, and thus the system operator sees the zoomed (enlarged) image of themoving object (for example, a walking person). In accordance with thechanges of the coordinates of a person's position, the rotating videocamera direction changes as well. This ensures that the person isconstantly walking within the frame of the rotating video camera.Zooming in enables to see the person's face, features, or an object theperson has in their hands. As mentioned above, the motion of all movingobjects is detected in the frame of at least one surveillance videocamera by using the object tracker. The tracking can be performed bothfor one selected moving object and for several moving objectssimultaneously, by sequential switching between the detected movingobjects.

The final step of the system operation is simultaneous display of videodata from the selected surveillance cameras and from the rotating videocamera in different panes on the video camera layout screen, inaccordance with the selected system operation mode, on the display ofGUI display unit. Thus, as mentioned earlier, video data coming in realtime from all the surveillance cameras, as well as from the rotatingcamera are recorded in the archive (which is stored in the systemmemory) as separate video records. Storing the video data from thepositioning system can be useful when investigating various alarmsituations and incidents. It should be noted that simultaneous displayof video data from the rotating camera and the surveillance cameras onthe video camera layout screen enhances the overall efficiency of thesystem, because the operator can easily observe the general image of theterritory and the detailed image of the moving objects at the same time.That is, in such a system, the user will not overlook important events,because all the data is displayed on the monitor.

In addition, the video data is analyzed in the process of loading itinto memory to form metadata describing the data for all objects in thevideo. In this case, the metadata is detailed information about allobjects moving in the field of view of each camera (motion trajectories,facial descriptors, recognized license plate numbers of cars, etc.). Theobtained metadata is also stored in the system memory. Subsequently theobtained metadata is used for search purposes.

In addition, to simplify the investigation of various incidents, thesystem's data processing device is designed to offer the ability toperform video analysis of each of the received video images. Thus, thevideo analysis includes at least a search by metadata, such as: searchfor faces, search for vehicle registration numbers, search for movingobjects, etc.

Let's consider the process of tracking the moving objects with arotating video camera in more detail. The operation of the system fortracking the moving objects is carried out by mathematicaltransformation of coordinates of the object within the frame of thesurveillance camera into the values of tilt (p), rotation (t), and scale(z) for the rotating camera using the approximating smooth functions, sothat the rotating camera begins to follow (track) each moving object inreal time. All three values of the rotating camera are linked tocoordinates of the corresponding points on the frame as follows:

F _(k)(x,y)=a×x ² +b×y ² +c×x×y+d×x+e×y+g,  (1)

wherein k=1, 2, 3; F₁=p; F₂=t; F₃=Z.

This, the tilt value p of the video cameras can vary from minus 359degrees to 0 or from 0 to 359 degrees. Therefore, the adjacent points ofthe frame will correspond to radically different tilt values of therotating camera (for example, 0 and 359). In this case, theapproximating smooth functions will not be applied in the mentionedmathematical transformation. For such a situation, there is a gapchecking algorithm which automatically searches for the gap using twofunctions from different sides of the gap for approximation, so that allthe calculations can be described by smooth functions, and theapproximation is then performed correctly.

As for the specific implementation of the described algorithm, thesystem data processing device is configured to automatically check for agap on one of the coordinates within the frame. The checking comprisesthree steps.

1. Searching for the gap location in the frame.

To detect the gap in one of p, t, z values the derivative of each of thevalues by the corresponding frame coordinate (for p—the derivative by x,for t—the derivative by y, for z—the derivative by z) is analyzed.Usually the rotating cameras have a gap only in the tilt valuecoordinate p.

2. Determining the extremum value (either the maximum (max) or theminimum (min)) of one of the p, t, z values through which the cyclictransition at the gap point occurs.

For example, to determine the maximum p_(max) value it is necessary toconsider all possible separations of the corresponding points into twogroups: before the gap and after the gap (for example: 5 points before,1 point after; 3 points before, 3 points after; etc.)

3. Extending the coordinates of one of the p, t, z values on the otherside of the gap to ensure continuity.

The p coordinate on the other side of the gap is extended using thelocation of the gap and the extreme p_(max) value.

After this transformation, it is possible to approximate the tilt pvalue using formula (1) for multiple points.

In addition, if a gap is detected in one of the p, t, z values, in someembodiments it may be transformed inversely into the coordinates of thesurveillance video camera frame.

Let's consider implementations of the method for tracking the movingobjects in more detail.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of one of the options for implementing themethod for tracking the moving objects. This method is implemented by acomputer system that includes at least the following components: a dataprocessing device, a memory, a graphical user interface (GUI), and atleast two video cameras. Thus, as mentioned above, one of the cameras isa rotating video camera and at least one other camera is a surveillancevideo camera comprising an object tracker.

Thus, the method comprises the steps at which the following operationsare preformed:

100—the setup of the system to enable the user to perform the followingactions:

101—the selection of specific surveillance video cameras from thecameras available in the system as rotating video cameras using theselection unit GUI;

102—calibration of each selected surveillance camera in relation to therotating camera using the calibration unit GUI, whereby the user sets atleast six links between the rotating camera and each surveillance cameraduring the calibration process;

103—selection of the system operation mode out of four possibleoperation modes using the operation mode selection unit GUI;

200—tracking of at least one moving object by the rotating video camera,whereby the motion of all moving objects is detected in the frame of atleast one surveillance video camera by the object tracker;

300—simultaneous display of video data from at least one surveillancecamera and from a rotating camera in different panes on the video cameralayout screen in accordance with the selected mode of the systemoperation using the display unit GUI.

It should be noted once again that this technique is implemented usingthe previously described computer system for tracking the moving objectsand, therefore, can be expanded and refined by all particularembodiments that have been already described above for embodiment of thesystem for tracking the moving objects.

Besides, the embodiment options of this group of inventions can beimplemented with the use of software, hardware, software logic, or theircombination. In this embodiment example, software logic, software, or aset of instructions are stored on one or multiple various conventionalcomputer-readable data carriers.

In the context of this description, a “computer-readable data carrier”may be any environment or medium that can contain, store, transmit,distribute, or transport the instructions (commands) for theirapplication (execution) by a computer device, such as a personalcomputer. Thus, a data carrier may be an energy-dependent orenergy-independent machine-readable data carrier.

If necessary, at least some part of the various operations presented inthe description of this solution can be performed in an order differingfrom the described one and/or simultaneously with each other.

Although the technical solution has been described in detail toillustrate the most currently required and preferred embodiments, itshould be understood that the invention is not limited to theembodiments disclosed and, moreover, is intended to modify and combinevarious other features of the embodiments described. For example, itshould be understood that this invention implies that, to the possibleextent, one or more features of any embodiment may be combined with oneor more other features of any other embodiment.

1. A system for tracking the moving objects which comprises: at leasttwo cameras, one of which is a pan-tilt-zoom video camera (PTZ) and atleast another is a surveillance video camera; memory made with theability to store video data coming from these video cameras; a graphicaluser interface (GUI) containing at least the following: a selectionblock, a calibration block, an operation mode selection block, and adisplay block; a data processing device configured with the ability toperform the following steps: setup of the system operation, whichcomprises in providing the system user with the ability to perform thefollowing actions: (1) selection of specific surveillance video camerasfrom the cameras available in the system for PTZ video camera by meansof the GUI selection block; (2) calibration of each selectedsurveillance camera in relation to the rotating camera by means of theGUI calibration block, whereby the user sets at least six connectionsbetween the rotating camera and each surveillance camera during thecalibration process; (3) selection of the system operation mode out offour possible operation modes by means of the GUI operation modeselection block; tracking of at least one moving object by a rotatingvideo camera, whereby motion of all moving objects is detected in theframe of at least one surveillance video camera by the object tracker;simultaneous display of video data from at least one surveillance cameraand from a rotating camera in different panes on the video camera layoutin accordance with the selected mode of the system operation by means ofthe GUI display block.
 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein theobject tracker detects all moving objects in the frame and determinestheir spatial coordinates.
 3. The system according to claim 1, whereinthe system user performs the following actions by means of the GUIcalibration block during the calibration, when setting connectionsbetween the rotating camera and each surveillance video camera: (a)selects one surveillance video camera from the list of previouslyselected video cameras in the system; (b) focuses the rotating videocamera on any point in the field of view of the selected surveillancevideo camera; (c) sets a point on the frame of the selected surveillancevideo camera that is currently faced by the rotating camera; (d) repeatsactions (b) and (c) at least six times to set at least six connections;(e) repeats actions (s)-(d) for each next surveillance video camera ofthe system.
 4. The system according to claim 3, which is additionallyconfigured to allow the system user to delete the points which were setby mistake by means of the GUI calibration block.
 5. The systemaccording to claim 3, wherein all mentioned points are set on onespatial plane only.
 6. The system according to claim, wherein one of theoperation modes is the “manual mode” in which tracking for at least onemoving object by rotating camera in the frame of one of the surveillancecameras begins after the user of the system selects the tracking objecton the frame of one of the surveillance cameras.
 7. The system accordingto claim 1, wherein one of the operation modes is “automatic mode” inwhich tracking of the moving objects is carried out by rotating cameraautomatically, with a preset frequency of switching between all detectedmoving objects.
 8. The system according to claim 1, wherein one of theoperating modes is the “user priority mode” in which the default“automatic mode” is used, but the user can select the tracking object atany time, and then activate the “manual mode”, whereby when the userdeselects the tracking object or when it disappears from thesurveillance area of the rotating camera, the “automatic mode” isactivated again.
 9. The system according to claim 1, wherein one of theoperation modes is the “manual rotating camera control mode (PTZ)” inwhich the “automatic mode” is used by default, but the user can takecontrol of the rotating camera at any time.
 10. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the moving object is a person or a vehicle.
 11. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein tracking of the moving object iscarried out by mathematical transformation of the object coordinates inthe frame of the surveillance camera into the values of pan (p), tilt(t), and zoom (z) of the rotating camera by using the approximatingsmooth functions.
 12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the dataprocessor is configured to automatically check for presence of a gap inone of the mentioned coordinates within the frame to allow the use ofapproximating smooth functions, whereby the mentioned check contains thefollowing steps: (a) search for a specific place of the gap in theframe; (b) extreme value (max, min) recovery of one of the p, t, and zvalues through which the cyclic transition at the gap point occurs; (c)extension of coordinates of one of the p, t, z values on the other sideof the gap to ensure continuity.
 13. The system according to claim 12,wherein when a gap is detected on one of the p, t, z, values, it isconverted back to coordinates of the frame of the surveillance camera.14. The method for tracking the moving objects implemented by thecomputer system, which includes at least one data processing device, amemory, a graphical user interface (GUI), and at least two videocameras, whereby one of them is a rotating video camera and at least onemore camera is a surveillance camera, whereby the method contains thestages at which the following operations are performed: setup of thesystem to enable the user to perform the following actions: (1)selection of specific surveillance video cameras from the camerasavailable in the system for rotating video camera by means of the GUIselection block; (2) calibration of each selected surveillance camera inrelation to the rotating camera by means of the GUI calibration block,whereby the user sets at least six connections between the rotatingcamera and each surveillance camera during the calibration process; (3)selection of the system operation mode out of four possible operationmodes by means of the GUI operation mode selection block; tracking of atleast one moving object by a rotating video camera, whereby motion ofall moving objects is detected in the frame of at least one surveillancevideo camera by the object tracker; simultaneous display of video datafrom at least one surveillance camera and from a rotating camera indifferent panes on the video camera layout in accordance with theselected system operation mode by means of the GUI display block. 15.The method according to claim 14, wherein the object tracker detects allmoving objects in the frame and determines their spatial coordinates.16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the system user performsthe following actions by means of the GUI calibration block during thecalibration, when setting connections between the rotating camera andeach surveillance video camera: (a) selects one surveillance videocamera from the list of previously selected video cameras in the system;(b) focuses the rotating video camera on any point in the field of viewof the selected surveillance video camera; (c) sets a point on the frameof the selected surveillance video camera that is currently faced by therotating camera; (d) repeats actions (b) and (c) at least six times toset at least six connections; (e) repeats actions (s)-(d) for each nextsurveillance video camera of the system.
 17. The method according toclaim 16, wherein the system user is additionally provided with theability to delete the points that were set by mistake using the GUIcalibration block.
 18. The method according to claim 16, wherein allmentioned points are set on one spatial plane only.
 19. The methodaccording to claim 14, wherein one of the operation modes is the “manualmode” in which tracking for at least one moving object by rotatingcamera in the frame of one of the surveillance cameras begins after theuser of the system selects the tracking object on the frame of one ofthe surveillance cameras.
 20. The method according to claim 14, whereinone of the operation modes is “automatic mode” in which tracking of themoving objects is carried out by rotating camera automatically, with apreset frequency of switching between all detected moving objects. 21.The method according to claim 14, wherein one of the operating modes isthe “user priority mode” in which the default “automatic mode” is used,but the user can select the tracking object at any time, and thenactivate the “manual mode”, whereby when the user deselects the trackingobject or when it disappears from the surveillance area of the rotatingcamera, the “automatic mode” is activated again.
 22. The methodaccording to claim 14, wherein one of the operation modes is the “manualrotating camera control mode (PTZ)” in which the “automatic mode” isused by default, but the user can take control of the rotating camera atany time.
 23. The method according to claim 14, wherein the movingobject is a person or a vehicle.
 24. The method according to claim 14,wherein tracking of the moving object is carried out by mathematicaltransformation of the object coordinates in the frame of thesurveillance camera into the values of pan (p), tilt (t), and zoom (z)of the rotating camera by using the approximating smooth functions. 25.The method according to claim 24, which offers the ability toautomatically check for presence of a gap in one of the mentionedcoordinates within the frame to allow the use of approximating smoothfunctions, whereby the mentioned check contains the following steps: (f)search for a specific place of the gap in the frame; (g) extreme value(max, min) recovery of one of the p, t, and z values through which thecyclic transition at the gap point occurs; (h) extension of coordinatesof one of the p, t, z values on the other side of the gap to ensurecontinuity.
 26. The method according to claim 25, wherein when a gap isdetected on one of the p, t, z, values, it is converted back tocoordinates of the frame of the surveillance camera.
 27. Non-transitorycomputer readable data carrier that contains instructions executed bythe computer processor for implementing the methods for tracking themoving objects according to claim 14.